Monotremes/Transcript
Transcript Title text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim dressed in a tee shirt with a picture of a monotreme on it feeds ducks in a pond. Moby appears behind Tim. MOBY: Beep. The ducks fly away. TIM: Why are ducks always so scared of you? MOBY: Beep. Moby shrugs and hands Tim a letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Where can I see a duckbilled platypus? From, Yerkes. Well, unless you go to the zoo, the only places you'll find a platypus in the wild are in Australia and the Pacific Islands of New Guinea. That's where all monotremes are from. A world map shows Australia and New Guinea. MOBY: Beep? TIM: A monotreme is a special kind of mammal that includes only five living species: the platypus and four species of spiny anteater, or echidna. Images show these animals. MOBY: Beep. Moby giggles. TIM: You really shouldn't laugh at how they look. Since they're all mammals, monotremes have hair or fur, are warm-blooded, and feed their young on milk produced by the mother's mammary glands. Side-by-side images show fur, a thermometer, and a drop of milk. TIM: But monotremes are different from other mammals in a few major ways. MOBY: Beep. Moby giggles. TIM: No, not because they're silly-looking. Monotremes are the only mammals that lay eggs. A mother platypus incubates her eggs, or keeps them warm by curling around them, for ten days or so until they hatch. An animation shows a mother platypus incubating her eggs. The eggs and nest are in an underground burrow. TIM: And monotremes don't have nipples, so she sort of sweats milk from her mammary glands out through her skin. And the babies lick the milk off their mother's fur instead of sucking at a nipple. An animation shows milk drops sweating out of the mother platypus. Then the babies lick the milk. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, the word monotreme means "single opening" in Greek. Text reads: monotreme. The word "single" appears under "mono" and "opening" appears under "treme." TIM: These animals got that name because they lay eggs, urinate, and defecate all out of the same hole called the cloaca. Images illustrate what Tim describes and shows the cloaca. MOBY: Beep. Moby holds his nose. TIM: Oh, grow up. Besides all that, monotremes don't quite look the way we expect mammals to look. An image shows the platypus and echidnas. TIM: With its leathery bill, webbed feet, and thick fur, the platypus looks like a cross between a beaver and a duck. An animation shows a platypus on the bank of a river. TIM: It spends most of its time in the water, and lives in long holes that it digs on the banks of rivers and streams. An animation shows a platypus digging a hole on a river bank. Its head is buried in the hole as it digs. TIM: One of the coolest things about the platypus is its defense system: little spurs on the back of the male's feet shoot out poison. An animation shows spurs on the foot of a platypus. TIM: Yeah, and echidnas have a pretty cool defense system, too. They look a lot like porcupines, all covered with coarse hair and spines. When an echidna's in trouble, it'll sometimes roll itself into a ball, so its pointy spines protect it. An animation shows an echidna. When a dog comes near it, it rolls itself into a ball. The dogs pokes his nose into one of the spines and pulls its head back. TIM: Unlike platypuses, echidnas have a pouch in their bellies. When she lays an egg, instead of sitting on it, the mother echidna will transfer it to her pouch, keeping it warm until it hatches. An animation shows an echidna mother using it's mouth to place an egg in her pouch. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Aw, you think that's cute, huh? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, good, because I've got a present for you. Tim hands Moby a box with a picture of an echidna on it. MOBY: Beep. Beeeuuump. Moby backs away. Then faints. TIM: What? It's a monotreme tee shirt, just like mine. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts